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Is a Tired Dog a Good Dog?

If you have ever had a dog then you’ve probably heard the saying “a tired dog is a good dog.” Based on my experience raising my very high energy Alaskan Malamute, Leeloo, I think truer words were never said! To get this mythical sleepy pup you need to exercise your dog both physically and mentally each day.

Exercising your dog is important because a sleepy pup is too busy napping and relaxing to chew the legs of your expensive piano or zoom around the house using your furniture as his own personal agility course.

Additionally, the types of dog behavior we would categorize as bad or annoying (barking, jumping on people, digging, inappropriate chewing etc.) is often a symptom of boredom and under-stimulation.

For us high energy dog owners, getting your crazy pooch tired is sometimes a superhuman feat!

This article will explain how you should exercise your dog so you have one sleepy pup at the end of the day.

Dogs Need a Job

Long before domestication by humans, canines evolved to spend their days searching and hunting for prey; sometimes traveling very long distances to find food. To survive they needed to be constantly alert, thinking, and always on the move.

When humans began domesticating dogs, they did so to help them with jobs. They were bred to hunt, protect the farm, or pull heavy sleds for long distances.

Having insatiable high energy and drive was ideal!

The modern dog, especially those breeds considered working or high energy, still has many of these great working traits but live in a much slower paced world. Twenty-first century Rover has his food provided to him in a bowl, let outside for a few short walks (if he is lucky), and is often left alone all day.

What does he have to spend his insane energy on besides tearing up your carpet or barking at the mailman?

Exercise your Dog

Just like humans, dogs need a combination of daily physical and mental exercise to feel well adjusted. Speaking for myself, there is no better feeling than taking a nice long walk in the sunshine or figuring out how to beat the final boss in a video game.

Unlike us, however, dogs do not exercise themselves. We don’t expect them to busy themselves by solving the New York Times crossword puzzle or driving themselves to yoga class (although that would make a FANTASTIC YouTube video!).

Instead we, as their dog parents, need to exercise your dog so his activity needs are met each day.

Physical Exercise

There are two main types of exercise that dog’s need, physical and mental. Physical exercise is anything that gets your dog’s body moving. The most common type of exercise dog’s get is going for walks.

Although walks are awesome for dogs, there are LOTS of different ways to meet your dog’s physical exercises needs.

A few examples of physical exercise include:

• Running
• Playing fetch
• Agility
• Weight pulling

Physical exercise is great and absolutely necessary to keep your dog happy and healthy but relying on it as your dog’s only form of stimulation can lead to some negative consequences.

Imagine this scenario: you have a high energy pup and run her 3 miles a day to get rid of her energy. After a week of this, you come home from your run exhausted and your pup starts sprinting around the house and barking. She is ready for round 2! Soon she will need 10 miles to feel relaxed. This is because she is gaining muscle and becoming more efficient at running.

This is where mentally exercising your dog can be a game changer.

Mental Exercise

Mental exercise includes anything that makes your dog complete a task, think, and/or learn. Dogs are incredibly smart creatures and LOVE mental exercise. High energy dogs tend to really excel at using their brains.

Examples of mental exercise include:

• Trick training
• Working for their meals
• Puzzle feeders
• Nose work
• Hide and seek

Mental exercise has the added benefit that dogs do not adapt to it in the same way they do with physical exercise. For Leeloo 10 minutes of nose work will make her just as tired as a 3-mile walk. Another benefit of mental stimulation is you do it anywhere! It makes for a great rainy day activity or if your dog is injured.

This is where mentally exercising your dog can be a game changer.

Go Play With Your Pup!

There are so many different ways you can exercise your dog to meet his mental and physical stimulation needs and One Sleepy Pup is here to help you find new and interesting ideas to exhaust your high energy dog.

I promise that by doing these activities each day not only will you and your dog have an absolute blast but you will notice any annoying behavioral problems begin to diminish.

Your bond with your dog will grow and seeing your sleepy ball of fluff at the end of the day will make it all worthwhile.

What is your go-to way to exercise your dog? Answer in the comments!